1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of data storage in computer systems and, more specifically, to a technique for applying the command pattern to facilitate communication between a client and server.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the standard client/server application design, the client passes first data to the server. The server then interprets the first data, manipulates it to obtain second data, and returns the second data back to the client. The client then interprets that second data. However, this requires all the logic for interpreting and manipulating data to be contained within the server, making the server less flexible when trying to change its functionality. Moreover, the server must also know about all types and versions of clients that can connect to it so it can properly handle the data in ways the different clients will understand. Furthermore, if a new client type is added, the server must be updated by a software update to support the client, and old servers cannot support the new client if they cannot be updated, e.g., due to hardware limitations such as processor speed and memory capacity.